WASHINGTON — An Indiana ready mixed concrete producer and its president have
agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines for fixing the price of ready
mixed concrete in the Indianapolis metropolitan area, the Department of Justice
announced today.

In a felony case filed in the United States District Court in Indianapolis,
Hughey Inc., which does business as Carmel Concrete Products (Carmel), and its
president, Scott D. Hughey, were charged with conspiring with their competitors
to fix the price at which ready mixed concrete was sold in the Indianapolis
metropolitan area from approximately July 2000 until May 2004.

Under the plea agreement, which must be approved by the court, Carmel and
the Justice Department have agreed to allow the court to determine an
appropriate fine for the company. Hughey’s plea agreement, which is also
subject to court approval, requires him to pay a fine of $30,000 to $50,000 and
to serve a term of imprisonment to be determined by the court. In addition,
Hughey has agreed to assist the government in its ongoing investigation.

Including today’s charge, four companies and nine executives have pleaded
guilty or were charged for their roles in the price-fixing conspiracy. Fines
totaling more than $30 million have resulted from the Department of Justice’s
ongoing antitrust investigation of the ready mixed concrete industry.

“Price-fixing conspiracies, such as the one that dominated the Indianapolis
ready mixed concrete market for nearly four years, harm our free market system,”
said Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s
Antitrust Division. “This type of conduct deprives consumers of their right to
competitive pricing.”

Ready mixed concrete is a product comprised of cement, aggregate (sand and
gravel), water, and, at times, other additives. Ready mixed concrete is made
on demand and, if necessary, is shipped to work sites by concrete mixer trucks.
It is purchased by do-it-yourself customers and commercial customers, as well
as local, state and federal governments for use in various construction
projects including sidewalks, driveways, bridges, tunnels and roads.

According to the plea agreement, Hughey engaged in conversations and
attended meetings with representatives of competing ready mixed concrete
producers in the Indianapolis metropolitan area during which he and his
co-conspirators reached agreements to fix the price at which ready mixed
concrete was to be sold. On at least two occasions, Hughey met with a
representative of a competing ready mixed concrete producer who had not
attended the price-fixing meetings in order to encourage the competitor to join
the conspiracy and abide by the agreements that had been reached at the
conspiratorial meetings. Hughey also made numerous telephone calls and
participated in several meetings among smaller numbers of individuals to ensure
compliance with the conspiratorial agreements, the Justice Department said.

Carmel and Hughey are charged with carrying out the conspiracy with their
co-conspirators by:

Engaging in discussions regarding the prices at which each would sell ready
mixed concrete;

Agreeing during those discussions to specific price increases for ready mixed
concrete and to the timing of those price increases;

Selling ready mixed concrete under those agreements at collusive and
noncompetitive prices;

Accepting payment for ready mixed concrete sold at the agreed-upon collusive
and noncompetitive prices; and

Authorizing or consenting to the participation of subordinate employees in the
conspiracy.

Today’s charge resulted from the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation
of the ready mixed concrete industry being conducted by its Chicago Field
Office in conjunction with the Indianapolis office of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern
District of Indiana.

On April 11, 2006, a federal grand jury returned indictments charging
MA-RI-AL Corporation, which does business as Beaver Materials Corp., Chris A.
Beaver, Ricky J. Beaver and John J. Blatzheim for their roles in the
price-fixing conspiracy. The individuals were also indicted on charges that
they knowingly made false statements to federal law enforcement officials
during the investigation. The trial is set for June 5, 2006 before Judge Larry
J. McKinney.

In March 2006, Builder’s Concrete & Supply Co. Inc. and its president, Gus
“Butch” Nuckols III pleaded guilty for their participation in the conspiracy.
Both have yet to be sentenced.

In December 2005, four executives from Irving Materials Inc. were each
sentenced to serve five months imprisonment and five months home confinement,
and to pay fines ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 each after pleading guilty
to participation in the conspiracy. In June 2005, Irving Materials Inc.
pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $29.2 million fine — the largest fine
ever collected by the Department of Justice in a domestic antitrust
investigation.

Anyone with information concerning price fixing or other anticompetitive
conduct in the ready mixed concrete industry should contact the Chicago Field
Office of the Antitrust Division at 312-353-7530 or the Indianapolis office of
the FBI at 317-639-3301. All press inquiries should be directed to the Office
of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice at 202-514-2007.